With increasing competition, and rising expectations from customers, information technology (IT) and network equipment vendors are offering service level agreements (SLAs) that commit them to certain response times to repair installed equipment or deliver spare parts. The time-to-deliver or time-to-repair commitments in the SLAs may vary depending on the level of service selected by the customer, and the proximity of the installed equipment to the closest vendor authorized service center or spare parts depot. For example, equipment running critical applications may require on-site spare parts and 24 hours by 7 days technical support. In this case, the time-to-repair commitment may stipulate on-site repair within a specified number of hours, or less. For equipment running less critical applications, or for equipment installed at sites that are more distant from a service center or an off-site spare parts depot, the stipulated time-to-repair may be increased.
However, even with these SLA agreements in place, many IT and network equipment vendors do not have a viable and cost-effective method of tracking installed equipment and deployed spare parts in a timely and accurate manner. Often, the last location of the equipment known to the vendor is the ship-to-address on the invoice, which may or may not be the installed location. Compounding the problem is the changeability of today's businesses, with mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs, and other business transformations resulting in significant changes to IT and network infrastructure, often without knowledge of the equipment vendor. Often based on unreliable or outdated information, the equipment vendor's service resources and spare parts inventory may be ineffectively deployed, leading to failures in meeting SLA commitments, customer dissatisfaction, and possible penalties under the SLA for non-compliance.
A more effective method and system for tracking installed equipment and effectively deploying spare parts for servicing the equipment is desirable.